
<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><h1 class="article__headline" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 1.2; font-weight: 400;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Title: New genes control plant height, could lead to flood-proof crops</span></font></h1><div dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/new-genes-control-plant-height-could-lead-flood-proof-crops">https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/new-genes-control-plant-height-could-lead-flood-proof-crops</a></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">“<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Now, researchers have found two genes that together help control the height of rice plants: one that accelerates the elongation of the stem and another that acts as a brake.”</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Plant molecular geneticist Motoyuki Ashikari of Nagoya University and colleagues have been studying rice varieties that survive long, deep floods by growing taller—and quickly, if need be, up to 25 centimeters per day.”</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“If plant breeders or molecular biologists can control those two genes, they might be able to adjust plant height without having to modify GA levels—perhaps even in crops other than rice—says Laura Dixon, a plant biologist at the University of Leeds.”</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The two genes also exist in sugarcane, barley, and the well-studied grass <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Brachypodium distachyon</em>. They might occur widely in other agriculturally important grasses, Ashikari believes.”</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div></body></html>